


Cattage in the Woods

by Mersheeple



Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [40]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Curses, Eventual Romance, F/M, HEA, cottage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25533421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/pseuds/Mersheeple
Summary: Hermione has a very pretty cottage in the middle of nowhere. It is peaceful and beautiful...and lonely. What happens when a feline friend follows her home?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805746
Comments: 58
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Q_Drew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Q_Drew/gifts), [turtle_wexler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtle_wexler/gifts), [TheGirlWhoLookedUp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlWhoLookedUp/gifts), [Viridiantly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridiantly/gifts).



> I love you all but OMG YOU ALL SUCK!!! :heart:
> 
> This came from a throwaway comment and a prompt and...tbh I have no idea any more. I am uploading slowly because I have too many other stories that are being uploaded regularly too...LOL

She had chosen this place for the view. As she stood at her sink, washing her breakfast things up by hand, she stared out of the window with a soft smile on her face. The whole place was like a fairy tale, her little slice of heaven. The white-washed walls of the cottage were greying with age but it only meant her home was more hidden. Her formidable wards kept the worst of the paparazzi out and even deterred some of the more inquisitive friends she had.

Of course, she could never completely avoid people, as she had found when yet another owl had come bearing her mail that morning, a red envelope ready to scream at her. Probably another from Molly. They had been a daily occurrence at one point but, thankfully, now were down to once or twice a month at most.

It had started when the War had ended. Harry had very quickly married Ginny before they started their school year and Hermione had not married Ron. Of course, Ron had been fine with that. He wasn’t ready to settle straight away.

Then Hogwarts had re-opened and Ron had not joined her, choosing to take Kingsley’s offer of Auror training instead of finishing his education. Harry, too, had gone into Auror training. Harry however, had stayed there. Ron had dropped out to help George in the joke shop. While working there, he had met Angelina’s cousin, a lovely girl named Susannah. Her American accent and her general demeanour when discussing Quidditch and the like had attracted Ron to her immediately. Hermione hadn’t seen him for dust. Molly, of course, blamed Hermione for the fact that Ron had moved to America to be with Susannah. The logic of that woman was dumbfounding.

When she had graduated from Hogwarts and been trying to decide what she wanted from life she realised she actually wanted only one thing; to live her way. So, she had said goodbye to the bulk of the Wizarding world and, with the money she had siphoned off from the sale of her parents house, she had purchased herself a small but comfortable cottage.

Crookshanks had loathed it. Eventually, sadly, she had had to take him to Hogwarts to live with Hagrid. Crooks liked the wide open spaces of Hogwarts and, although she had plenty of wide open spaces here, they were larger and infinitely darker and less well known. Of course, Hermione loved that she could go for a walk in any direction any time of day and never have to worry about seeing another soul. And she wasn’t _that_ lonely anyway.

The day had dawned clear and bright in the Valley and, on a whim, Hermione picked up her jacket, slung it around her shoulders and left the cottage, locking the door but electing not to raise any additional wards. She suspected she would walk for a short while before coming back to the cottage to work on her book. She was currently in the preliminary stages of writing an introductory guide for Muggleborn children about the practices of Wizards and Witches in Britain. She was hoping to eventually have it published and given to Muggleborns prior to their first term at Hogwarts.

With a smile on her lips and her heart light, she began her walk towards the small pool she had found on one of her various rambles previously. It was a beautiful clearing that was just outside of her wards, close enough that she felt safe but far enough that she felt she could fully stretch her legs. She walked through the dense thicket of leaves that bordered her property and felt the wash of her magic as she breached them.

All at once the sounds around her broke through and she laughed gaily. This was the downside of the wards she had to have around her property; they were so strong and so thick that she couldn’t hear the sounds of the small stream, or the rushing of the wind, or the call of the birds. She missed those simple sounds. It was why she tried to get out of her wards at least three times a week.

A new noise broke her concentration and she stumbled on the path, landing solidly on her front as she tripped over a root from one of the large trees nearby. The wind was knocked out of her and she lay for a moment, cataloguing any potential bruises, pains, and worse injuries, thankful that she seemed unharmed. She looked up to get herself back to standing and caught the eye of the very thing that had caused her tumble in the first place.

_Mrrrowl!_

The cat stared at her, its green-grey eyes blinking slowly as it tilted its head and she found herself frozen. It was a well-groomed tabby with a marking over its eye that looked almost like a lightning bolt and made her think of Harry. It somehow seemed too dignified to answer to ‘puss’ or ‘kitty’ or ‘Princess Baby Noodle Butt’. She moved slowly, careful not to spook it as she pushed herself up onto her knees. She made kissing noises and put out her hand to call it forward. The cat blinked again and took gentle slow steps forwards before rubbing its head on her outstretched hand.

She scratched its head between its ears and smiled as it began to rumble and purr. She had missed that sound. Perhaps she could tempt the cat to come into the house with her after she had had her walk. She pulled herself upright completely and smiled.

“I’ll be back later…cat…I will see you then hopefully. If you are still here, I will find you some lovely tuna…” She began to walk towards the pool and smiled at herself, shaking her head. Honestly, how lonely must she be if she were talking to cats as if they would understand? She walked on, her mind on other things as she headed deeper into the woods, mulling over chapter titles for the book she was going to be writing.

She reached the pool and noticed again the log that had, at some point, fallen to make a perfect bench to sit at the sun dappled pool. The light shone through the trees and she felt the weight of her plans drop from her shoulders in the space between breaths. She sat on the log, staring into the sunlight on the pool of water and smiled, taking in a deep breath. The scent of wet leaves and pine and grass assaulted her nostrils and she closed her eyes with a smile. This was her safe space, her quiet space, her home from home. She loved it here. She heard the rustling of leaves and wondered if it was her feline friend coming to visit her. A soft meow and the push of a head under her hand confirmed her thought and she smiled, stroking the cat gently and keeping her eyes closed. A purring chirrup came from her furry companion and she laughed slightly, opening her eyes, and looking down at the cat under her hand.

The very definitely grey and black striped cat. It was cute, sure, but it wasn’t the same cat as she had already petted. Just how many cats were there in these woods? She laughed softly. Well, two. At least two. It wasn’t like it was a whole clowder of them. She smiled smugly before remembering that no one was around to hear her correctly name a group of cats so who, exactly was she being smug to?

“So, would you like to go and get all your friends and we can go back to mine and have some tuna?” She laughed softly and pushed herself to her feet. She started to walk the long way back home, completing her circuit round the pool while the cat, which somehow looked familiar and seemed to be glaring at her, just watched her before it sauntered off, its movements silky and flowing, more than any other cat she had ever known.

With a sigh, she continued her walk back, wondering if the other cat, the pretty tabby, would be waiting for her where she had left it or if it, too, would have abandoned her. She shook her head and laughed softly, wondering where the melancholy and feeling of abandonment had come from. It was just a _bloody_ cat after all. It was nothing special. She looked around for it when she reached the thick brush where she had fallen before, taking care to step over the root that had tripped her before. The little tabby was nowhere to be seen and she felt ridiculously curiously sad as she made her way back to her little cottage. She approached it from the back garden and felt the wards ripple against her skin as she turned the corner to the front of the house. What she saw made her smile.

The pretty little tabby cat was sitting on her doormat, cleaning, and sunning itself as though it were waiting for her. With a smile, she leaned over the doormat so as not to disturb her house guest and unlocked the door, pushing it open. The cat gave a soft mewl and stood, stretching itself before turning to lead the way into the house. She laughed at the cat’s audacity and walked straight into the kitchen, waving the door closed behind her as she got ready to settle in to writing for the day.

She turned the kettle on as she passed, leaving it to boil as she set about finding some tinned tuna for her new feline friend. She hummed softly as she worked before turning to look for the cat, smiling as she noticed it sitting near the breakfast table. She placed the plate of tuna on the floor before she poured herself a coffee and moved to sit at the table, summoning her notebook and a pen and getting ready to write.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione has a new friend...friends...oh dear...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we get more into the story proper...lol...<3

She had only been sitting for a short while when her new feline friend, who would need a name sooner rather than later, jumped up on the table and proceeded to beg for attention by flopping over on top of Hermione’s arm.

“I need that arm…” Hermione laughed, sliding her arm out from underneath the suddenly needy cat, and immediately moving to stroke between the tabby’s ears. The change in the cat’s demeanour was immediate as it began to purr and stretch lazily in place. A scratching from outside her back door seemed to catch their attention at the same as the cat, she really needed to name it something soon, sat upright, glaring at the door. Hermione stood, wondering what was going on. She stood from the table, automatically fisting her wand as she moved to the door.

She opened the door slowly and heard a meow. Her eyes flicked downwards and she nearly laughed. There was her pretty little striped friend. And with him were a veritable glaring of cats. The black and grey striped cat had obviously amassed quite a harem. She could see, from the way he sat, that he was definitely a male cat. The others all appeared to be female and were a beautiful mix of calicos, tortoiseshells, gingers, whites, greys and blacks, all domestic shorthairs with pretty yellow-green eyes save for him. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, though she assumed they were probably just dark grey. She opened the door wider and smiled, saying nothing as she vaguely waved them inside. The male cat entered first, turning to let out a deep rumbling purr followed by a short meow and the other cats began to enter too.

As they entered, she silently counted them and, once they were all inside, she moved to duplicate her remaining tins of tuna. She would have to shop for proper cat food. Now that she had somehow managed to gain her own clowder of cats, a group of ten of the pretty little things, she would need to get a few things in to store up for feeding them and keeping them happy.

“Right, first thing’s first…you all need names. If any of you are able to tell me your names, that would be great…” She trailed off laughing softly to herself. These were common cats, not half-Kneazles like Crookshanks. They wouldn’t be able to tell her their names like her familiar had. She caught the eye of the male cat and got the feeling that perhaps _he_ would be able to tell her his name.

_Sir_

The word reverberated around her head and she very nearly laughed. It was such an…appropriate name for him. The voice he spoke in was familiar but, with the strange rumble purr growl that came from behind the voice when a familiar conversed with their chosen witch or wizard, it was difficult to place.

“Well then, Sir, do you think you can help me with the other names? I would like to know your harem of ladies if I may?” She crouched down, looking directly into his eyes and he blinked slowly, which she took to mean yes. She pointed first to the pretty tabby still staring from where she sat on the table.

“Do you know her name?”

_We call her She-Who-Waits. But you may call her Kayin._

Hermione stared at the pretty little cat on the table and tried out the name. Her ears pricked up and she meowed, a small affirmation that seemed to acknowledge Hermione’s attempt at learning her name. Hermione smiled and nodded back before turning back to Sir.

“Who are your girls?” Hermione smiled as he moved to each of the cats in turn, giving their nicknames as well as the names she could call them.

_We call this one Little Fire but you may call her Martha. This one is her sister She-Who-Watches and you may call her Vela. She-Who-Pounces, although I often call her Nuisance, you may call her Esther._

Hermione acknowledged the three cats with ginger markings and patches. Little Fire, Martha, was named such for obvious reasons. Vela appeared to be wearing bright orange spectacles and so would be easy to remembers. Nuisance, or Esther as Hermione was expected to call her, was entirely dark brown with an orange tail tip that looked like it had been dipped in paint. She watched as Sir moved to another patch and tapped one of the Calico cats on the head.

_This one is The Dancer, though she answers to Mai. And this is her sister, Beatbox. She answers to nothing else._

If a cat could shrug, then Sir would have shrugged apologetically as he explained. Hermione found it quite sweet and endearing in a strange way.

_The all white girl is Silent Star, but she will come to you with the name Liv. She cannot make normal sounds, though she still purrs. The grey lady came to me with no name. I call her Helena. You may do the same._

Hermione laughed, now sure that this cat known as Sir was a very smart cat and had probably at some time been owned by a witch or wizard who had talked about Hogwarts with him. Then again, with the War, it was completely possible that this poor cat had belonged to one of the younger students who had not survived. There was now only one cat that she hadn’t been introduced to. The female version of him almost, she was sleek and black with piercing green-gold eyes and brown tail and ear tufts. She was actually the prettiest of the cats in Hermione’s opinion, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.

_This is my daughter. She is Keaira. She also answers to Kerry. She is learning to talk to witches such as yourself but she struggles sometimes. Please, will you be patient with her?_

He took a protective stance and Hermione nearly flinched before realising that this cat knew nothing about her at all and she should not be offended by his need to protect his daughter.

“I will protect all of you. And if I can perhaps help in any way, please let me know.” There was something very odd about these cats. Not a one of them had been meowling and begging for food and she hadn’t even got their food out. She took out all of the tins of tuna, the six that were originally in her cupboard, plus the three that she had replicated. While Gamp’s laws stated quite clearly that one could not create or replicate food, she had found that she could replicate the texture of the food, though not the taste. By mixing the three replicated food tins with the ordinary food, she should be able to bulk it out so that there was enough for all of them to eat for tonight and she would floo the market shortly, asking for an additional delivery of food tomorrow morning.

She had done as she had originally planned, dishing out their food onto small plates and placing them in front of each cat, saying their names as she did so, making sure that she got their names right by checking with Sir every time she said a name. Thankfully, they were individually distinct enough that she was able to be correct every time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cats settle in...and then something strange happens...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Caturday! HAHA!

It had taken only a few days for the cats to find their way around their new home. She knew where to find them most of the time. Liv liked to lie on the sofa in the lounge, usually accompanied by Helena if they were not too close. If their tails touched, Helena would run up the bookcase and sit at the top, hissing down at poor Liv until Liv fell asleep.

Mai and Beatbox usually curled up on one of the dining chairs in the kitchen together, never squabbling for space. It was often hard to see where one ended and the other began, so curled around one another she always found them.

Kayin almost always followed her around, unless there was a pile of freshly dried laundry to sit on. It had frustrated her at first but now made her laugh for her clothes were once again covered in cat hair. Martha, Vela and Esther, who still occasionally got called Nuisance, liked to get into the guest bedroom and either sleep on the bed or, particularly Nuisance, liked to get into one of the drawers in the bathroom and sleep on top of the towels. Hermione had to be very careful to keep the doors closed to rooms she didn’t want covered in cat hair.

Sir liked to sit in the window seat, staring out the window unblinkingly, occasionally deigning to talk to her but usually sending Keaira to allow her to practice speaking to humans. Keaira was getting better and had gone from screaming a horrendous noise and sending a picture of what she wanted to words accompanying a picture. The words may not always be quite right but they were always close and Hermione could use context clues.

Sir was the only cat that slept in her bed at night. It was strange, he was aloof in the day but, when she went to bed he would curl up on her spare pillow and gently pat her head as if to comfort her. It was very sweet really. Hermione continued to feel like she understood Sir and that he understood far more than she gave a cat credit for.

She stretched as she awoke one morning and screamed when her hand came into contact with something hard and solid and most definitely not made of wood.

“Oh bother!” She heard the voice this time and did not understand what had happened. The voice was familiar and yet she knew she had never heard it before. She had only heard it in her own head, never in her bedroom. Clutching the blanket to her chest she rolled off the bed in a disconcerted heap. She heard the voice curse again and realised that whoever the person was in her bed was likely to be completely naked right now.

“Who the hell are you?” She kept her eyes partially closed, wordlessly accio-ing her wand and readying her magic in case she needed it.

“You need not worry about your virtue, Madam, I have not taken advantage of a young woman yet and I do not intend to. I have lain beside you for many nights now and not once touched you inappropriately, in spite of the fact that…” The voice trailed off and then began to echo in her head again, a way she was most used to hearing it.

_In spite of the fact that every night I lay beside you and take my human form, as my daughter does, I have never touched you and have no intention of doing so._

“Sir?” Her eyes snapped open and she looked at the cat that now lay sprawled on her bed where not five minutes before a very human, very masculine man had definitely been lying.

_I wanted to tell you, truly I did. But I did not know how welcome I would be. My daughter and I were afflicted with a curse which means that we can only maintain human form when we are dreaming of human form. There is a way to break the curse but we cannot speak of it. As I’m sure you can understand, this is not the easiest thing to deal with. For either myself or my daughter._

Hermione nodded softly, her soft heart and generally Gryffindorish tendencies meaning that, even after the terrifying circumstances of waking up next to a man she did not go to bed with, she could empathise with him completely. She did, after all, know what it felt like to be stuck in the form of a cat, even if it was only partial.

_Hermione, there is more to this than you know. I…did you see my face?_

She didn’t take the time to question how he knew her name. She assumed that he must have known her in the past, or perhaps she had thought her name too loudly at some time or another. She shook her head, slightly disappointed with herself for not noticing more of what he looked like as a human.

“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t look at you. I felt something hard behind me and…oh…oh gosh! I didn’t mean it like that! I…oh Merlin…” Hermione stumbled over her words, flushing scarlet as she realised what she had said and hurriedly covered her face with her hands as she laughed in embarrassment. She heard the cat make a noise like it was coughing up a furball and suddenly realised that, in covering her face with her hands, she had dropped the blanket and revealed the pair of tiny shorts and vest top that she wore in bed. Her shoulders shook and she refused to uncover her face for fear that she might snort during her laughter.

_Hermione, I am sorry, I…I have turned away if you wish to cover up or…oh bother!_ She heard the distress in his voice as he jumped from the bed and pushed her door open with his paw. He streaked out of the room as if the hounds of hell were on his tail and she heard him careen down the stairs and into his usual spot on the window seat. She smiled, shaking her head at herself before heading for a shower, shooing Esther out of the bathroom so she could have some space for herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Caturday! Love you all very much!

For three days, Sir refused to come near her. He wouldn’t talk to her, he never slept next to her, and he was so much more cranky that he barely ate at all either. She was beginning to worry about him and so, on the third day, she picked him up and carried him to her bed.

“Come on you cranky old git! You cannot be comfortable curled up on the sofa all night. So tonight you are going to fall asleep next to me like you used to and, if that means that you wake up human again then we will talk properly. Understood?” She stared in his eyes and he blinked slowly before a single word entered her head.

_Yes_

She woke up with a large and awkward bulk behind her. She stayed as still as she could, smiling to herself as she noticed that he didn’t move straight away. She wondered if, as with Crookshanks, she would be able to communicate with Sir by sending her thoughts to him.

**If you are awake, I’d like to talk to you before you go…** She tried something simple first and knew that he had heard her when he shifted slightly, bringing his lower abdomen into contact with her hip and he froze. She reached for his arm as he tried to shift and hide the fact that he was a male with a very particular problem.

**Ignore it Sir. I don’t care. Tell me, who put this curse on you?**

_Keaira’s mother when I told her I didn’t want a marriage. I was free for the first time in my life, I was not going to tie myself to someone I barely knew. So, I got told if I wanted to be a Tom cat…and the rest, as they say, is history. Keaira was affected by the spell too, and her mother threw her out into the streets to die. I think she hated cats almost as much as she hated children at that time. Thankfully, I was still in the area. I suppose I rescued her but really, all I did was treat her like a father should._

As he spoke at length, she realised why she recognised his voice and she took a slight breath in shock. Without thinking, she pressed back against him, her eyes widening as she felt his hard length pressing against her. He stopped speaking and held very still, his breath fluttering against her hair.

**Sir, it’s ok. It’s a natural thing in the mornings.**

_You would not say that if you knew who it was. Miss Granger, this is most inappropriate and I must ask your forgiveness. I know that I will change soon, as soon as my daughter wakes up._ She turned in his arms and looked into his eyes, dark grey, not black as she had always assumed when she was a child.

“Hello Severus.” He closed his eyes, a look of horror on his face before he grimaced and began to shrink into his daytime form. Without a word, Hermione reached for him and stroked between his ears, smiling softly as he let out a rumble of approval.

**Sir, I have one last question for you before we get on with our day. How old is Keaira?**

_In human years? She is four years old. She was born 14 months after the end of the War._

“And she has never had a human to speak to? No wonder the poor baby struggles to communicate.” Hermione sighed softly before turning to speak to him once more.

“I promised I would help you in any way I could and I meant it. Is there a way to break the curse, anything at all?” Hermione looked at him, pleading with him to help her.

_There is a way but it is not a way that I would ever choose for you._

With that, Sir walked out of the room and downstairs, and Hermione burst into tears as she walked to the shower and thought about all she had learned.


End file.
